In the war in Ukraine, the conventional rules of naval combat have been turned completely upside down. Large frigates and warships turned out to be vulnerable to small, fast and cheap unmanned systems operating from the sea. These so-called unmanned surface vessels (USVs), or drone boats, are increasingly used to attack enemy ships, vessels and coastal targets with surprising effectiveness. Ukrainian forces have repeatedly hit Russian patrol and coastal boats with sea drones, underlining the rapidly growing capabilities of this technology.
It is this trend that has also attracted the attention of defence industries and armed forces elsewhere, including in Turkey. There, tests and demonstrations have recently been carried out with a new type of drone boat known as the Pirana Kida from the company MKE. This maritime drone is designed to approach enemy targets at sea at high speed and use itself as a weapon by crashing into the target, a tactic often described as a kamikaze attack.
Pirana Kida: fast, autonomous naval drone
The Pirana Kida stands out for a combination of speed, range and precision that makes it a potentially dangerous instrument in asymmetric maritime operations. The drone weighs about 1,200 kilograms and is propelled by a waterjet engine that can reach speeds of more than 50 knots, which is over 90 kilometres per hour on the water. The Pirana has an operational range of more than 200 nautical miles, allowing it to be deployed from a safe distance without being directly visible to enemy ships.
On board is an explosive charge of about 65 kilograms, consisting of a main charge and a pre-penetrator. This configuration is intended to inflict considerable damage on enemy vessels, coastal infrastructure or supporting maritime objects.
The Pirana’s design is also aimed at reducing detectability. The hull is built from composite materials and optimised shapes to minimise radar reflection, making it harder to detect and neutralise the drone early. Navigation is provided by a system designed to hold its course even under electronic interference, a crucial property in modern conflicts in which electronic warfare plays an ever larger role.
Footage of successful test attacks
Footage has recently been released of the Pirana showing a test attack. In these recordings, an unmanned aerial drone follows the maritime drone from above, clearly showing how accurately the Pirana hits its target. The combination of aerial and naval unmanned platforms illustrates how integrated systems can be used more efficiently to detect, track and destroy targets.
During the test, the Pirana was kept under control by an aerial drone from an amphibious carrier platform. This indicates that such systems can not only operate autonomously, but can also be part of a layered network of unmanned assets. This approach opens up new possibilities for navies wanting to invest in asymmetric striking power, in which smaller, cheaper and harder-to-detect systems pose a serious threat to larger naval units.
Naval combat is changing
What the Pirana and similar systems show is that naval warfare is changing fundamentally. Large frigates, logistics ships and other traditional pillars of sea power turn out to be vulnerable to fast, autonomous drones that give little warning time and can achieve a big effect at relatively low cost. This shift has been driven partly by recent operational experience, in which unmanned boats and sea drones have been used effectively against conventional maritime targets. For example, there is also a lot of testing with submarine drones. Australia, America and Germany are busy testing these.
Analysts stress that this development is not limited to one conflict area. Navies worldwide are investigating how unmanned surface vehicles can be used for patrol, defence, reconnaissance and attack. Technologies such as the Pirana Kida show that maritime drones are no longer experimental curiosities, but are becoming a permanent part of modern warfare.
Future implications
The rise of drone boats such as the Pirana Kida gives a clear indication of the direction in which maritime defence is developing. Instead of relying solely on expensive, heavily armed ships, countries are increasingly choosing flexible and relatively cheap systems that can be deployed in larger numbers. This puts traditional maritime strategies under pressure and underlines that technological innovation – accelerated by recent conflicts – will continue to play a decisive role in how wars at sea are fought.
